“The View” Gets a New Permanent Conservative Host
Another polarizing season of “The View” is wrapping up this summer — and a bombshell “hot topic” about who the next conservative co-host will be is about to drop, The Post can exclusively report.
The daytime juggernaut, which celebrated 25 glorious, feather-ruffling years this week, is about to announce who will replace self-proclaimed “mountain mama” Meghan McCain after her “miserable” and abrupt exit last summer.
A bevy of right-sided guest hosts have been cycling through on-air audtions for the top spot — and an insider has revealed those repeat tryouts are the ones to watch out for when it comes to the permanent gig.
“You are starting to see familiar faces over and over,” the source told The Post. “I would expect an announcement before the season ends on August 5.”
The source added: “If you watch the show, you can see people who are coming back regularly to join the co-hosts at the table. It is an invaluable experience for the show. And it was always the plan to make sure they had a seat at the table.”
In other words — the informed guessing game is on, so pay attention!
The most frequent repeat guest co-hosts include Alyssa Farrah Griffin, the 33-year-old former communications director for President Donald Trump, and former GOP communications director Tara Setmayer, 46. Both are being considered for the permanent seat — with some sources hinting that Farrah is likely to be the frontrunner.
Note: In the two long, long-winded months since McCain’s exit, Griffin has been a mainstay every month — and even made an extended appearance in June. No other guest host racked up that tally this season.
Just saying.
A rep for ABC has not responded to The Post’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, conservative author and media pundit Ann Coulter previously told The Post she would be willing to take on the role.
“Yes, of course I would [take the job] but they will never pick me,” Coulter, 60, said. “[It seems] they don’t mean what they say. You might be exposing a double-secret requirement: Must be a dumb, easy-to-push-around Republican.”
The current ladies of the talk show — Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Sara Haines — are set to go on hiatus next week and will return to finish out the rest of the season on July 11.
The 26th season will pick back up after Labor Day.
The new co-host announcement will come on the heels of several scandals and dramatic incidents that have plagued — or promoted, depending on your fan stance — the show over the past season.
In February, the always controversial Goldberg, 66, was suspended from the ABC network after saying the Holocaust was “not about race.”
The next month, Behar, 79, suffered a dramatic fall, face-planting in front of the live studio audience — and the 2 million-plus viewers at home.
And while rumors have surfaced that it has been difficult to find a new conservative voice on the show, the insider revealed that there has been “no struggle to find a new co-host.”
Despite their nonstop parade of hoopla, it appears nothing can shake the ladies of “The View.” They remain the reigning daytime chat champs while others drop like flies.
While “The View” is renewed for a 26th season, other daytime talkers are struggling. “The Talk” hit a new ratings low three months after Sharon Osbourne’s dramatic exit, and “The Real” was canceled after eight seasons in April.
And in May, Ellen Degeneres said her goodbye after 19 years on the air.
The “conservative” slot comes with its own specific set of challenges, according to former stars who filled the coveted slot.
“Right now, we still do need a really conservative voice,” legal eagle co-host Hostin, 53, proclaimed as the hunt for a new conservative cast mate heated up. “I also believe it’s really important to not have someone on the panel who spreads misinformation, who adheres to the big lies, who is an anti-vaxxer, because I think that’s dangerous.”
The longest running right-wing host, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, survived on “The View” for 10 seasons, from 2003 to 2013. But it was not without struggles. On May 23, 2007, Hasselbeck got into an infamous on-air “split screen” argument with co-host Rosie O’Donnell concerning the war in Iraq, which she supported and O’Donnell opposed.
The heated moment was caught on camera and made waves nationwide at the time.
Meanwhile, McCain bailed on her “anthropological experiment at left-wing media” after four seasons, revealing that an infamous on-air clash with enduring face mask proponent Behar, a “toxic work environment” rife with behind-the-scenes drama, ultimately led to her exit from ABC’s long-running daytime show.
“We had a respectful understanding of each other’s roles. Whenever we got in a fight, she would talk it out,” McCain, 37, said of Behar in her audio memoir “Bad Republican.” “The thing that makes me really, really sad is there was a period of time that I got along really well with her.”
The two clashed countless times over politics concerning Joe Biden’s meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, the handling of mask mandates, etc. Things took a real turn in January 2021, when only two days after McCain returned from maternity leave, Behar told her she did not miss her at all.
“I had postpartum anxiety. When I was back, I was really nervous. It was like starting TV all over again. I felt unsteady. I was trying to make a joke, ‘You missed me so much.’ If you watch the clip, her reaction is very sharp,” McCain continued, adding that Behar didn’t apologize to her, even though she cried during the commercial break and had a panic attack in her office when the show ended.
John McCain’s proud daughter’s fellow conservative panelist pal — Abby Huntsman — preceded McCain’s exit in January 2020. At the time, she said it was to help out her dad, Republican politician Jon Huntsman Jr., with his Utah gubernatorial campaign.
However, Huntsman, 36, later admitted the honest reason for her departure: The show’s workplace environment, she said, “did not reflect my values” and was “rewarding people for bad behavior.”
Welp: Good luck to the new hire — and take a little time to enjoy your possibly short-lived view!
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